Fiber NICs

bhawk6901

Are there any fiber NICs out there known to work with pfsense?
if so whats the general price range?

N-GXE-SC-01
1000BASE-SX 850nm multimode (SC)
[50/125 μm fiber: 550 m/1804 ft.]
[62.5/125 μm fiber: 220 m/722 ft.]
Link Budget: 7.5 dB
N-GXE-LC-01
1000BASE-SX 850nm multimode (LC)
[50/125 μm fiber: 550 m/1804 ft.]
[62.5/125 μm fiber: 220 m/722 ft.]
Link Budget: 7.5 dB
N-GXE-SC10-01
1000BASE-LX 1310nm single mode (SC)
[10 km/6.2 mi.] Link Budget: 10.5 dB
N-GXE-LC10-01
1000BASE-LX 1550nm single mode (LC)
[10 km/6.2 mi.] Link Budget: 11.5 dB

This are working well together with pfSense fiber nics, but in normal I would really consider
to use Intel Fiber NICs to be sure to get the most benefit from and also stability and a
supported device.

bhawk6901

@BlueKobold:

Transistion Networks NICs

N-GXE-SC-01
1000BASE-SX 850nm multimode (SC)
[50/125 μm fiber: 550 m/1804 ft.]
[62.5/125 μm fiber: 220 m/722 ft.]
Link Budget: 7.5 dB
N-GXE-LC-01
1000BASE-SX 850nm multimode (LC)
[50/125 μm fiber: 550 m/1804 ft.]
[62.5/125 μm fiber: 220 m/722 ft.]
Link Budget: 7.5 dB
N-GXE-SC10-01
1000BASE-LX 1310nm single mode (SC)
[10 km/6.2 mi.] Link Budget: 10.5 dB
N-GXE-LC10-01
1000BASE-LX 1550nm single mode (LC)
[10 km/6.2 mi.] Link Budget: 11.5 dB

This are working well together with pfSense fiber nics, but in normal I would really consider
to use Intel Fiber NICs to be sure to get the most benefit from and also stability and a
supported device.

Thanks for the suggestions. Will they be a burden on the soekris net 6501 atom processor?
Then theres the issue if they will fit the soekris box

almabes

The Soekris 6501 doesn't have much of a processor to begin with. It's like 600Mhz.

A media converter will cost you about $50-$60, and you don't have to worry about driver support, processor load, thermal dissapation, laser radiation, blidness, fitting into a case etc…

http://www.trendnet.com/products/products.asp?cat=114#tabs-115

What are you trying to interface? Singlemode, Multimode, Gigabit, 100Mb, ST, SC, LC?

My local nerd store sells 100Mb Multimode fiber media converters for $55. All you'd need to worry about is a patch cord and another wall wart.

Will they be a burden on the soekris net 6501 atom processor?

I really don´t know that, because there are many different NICs on the market
and I don´t know them all!

Budget NICs with a cheap chip soldered on and this is harming often the CPU hard
Intel consumer NICs with better chips and LAN Ports (jack) that is saturation some stuff by its own
Intel Server NICs with a real DSP (Digital signal processor) that is doing much alone by it selfs and
is not harming the CPU so much.

What Kind of net6501 you are going to buy? The net6501-70?
What kind of case you are going to buy? Desktop or 19" case?
What kind of Fiber card you need really, this ones recommended by me are all GB NICs
perhaps you will only need a 100 MBit/s NIC, do you?

As I am right informed you must take a PCIe x1 (1.1) NIC and so you can´t insert all cards
you will find! This card is GB LAN capable and short or so called half length so it should fit in
both net6501 cases. But if you are not really sure mail soekris and ask for the dimensions!

bhawk6901

@BlueKobold:

Will they be a burden on the soekris net 6501 atom processor?

I really don´t know that, because there are many different NICs on the market
and I don´t know them all!

Budget NICs with a cheap chip soldered on and this is harming often the CPU hard

Intel consumer NICs with better chips and LAN Ports (jack) that is saturation some stuff by its own

Intel Server NICs with a real DSP (Digital signal processor) that is doing much alone by it selfs and
is not harming the CPU so much.

What Kind of net6501 you are going to buy? The net6501-70?
What kind of case you are going to buy? Desktop or 19" case?
What kind of Fiber card you need really, this ones recommended by me are all GB NICs
perhaps you will only need a 100 MBit/s NIC, do you?

As I am right informed you must take a PCIe x1 (1.1) NIC and so you can´t insert all cards
you will find! This card is GB LAN capable and short or so called half length so it should fit in
both net6501 cases. But if you are not really sure mail soekris and ask for the dimensions!

not going to buy, already have net6501-70 boards along with the default soekris casings
and yes need gb fiber NICS

not going to buy, already have net6501-70 boards along with the default soekris casings
and yes need gb fiber NICS

Ok now it more clear to me. Please read here in a success story, that this card is really running
in pfSense.

But I would be reading at first that this card comes in 4 different variations and so you should need
to be sure that the one you buy is matching the same standard and wavelength you will need.

Otherwise would it also be going to use a fiber to ethernet converter with no needs to be own a
driver and works also out of the box. but cheaper.
Transition Networks Fiber Gigabit Ethernet Card N-GXE-LC10-01

almabes

Unless you must install an additional firewall interface, I would recommend a fiber media converter. In my opinion, it is the option with the least risk, most likely lowest cost, and easiest to implement.

Trendnet sells Gb media converters for ~$100.

bhawk6901

@BlueKobold:

not going to buy, already have net6501-70 boards along with the default soekris casings
and yes need gb fiber NICS

Ok now it more clear to me. Please read here in a success story, that this card is really running
in pfSense.

But I would be reading at first that this card comes in 4 different variations and so you should need
to be sure that the one you buy is matching the same standard and wavelength you will need.

Otherwise would it also be going to use a fiber to ethernet converter with no needs to be own a
driver and works also out of the box. but cheaper.
Transition Networks Fiber Gigabit Ethernet Card N-GXE-LC10-01

thanks a lot! will look into it

amps2volts

Silicom network cards work great too. Used them several times in other FreeBSD builds. Almost all there cards are intel controllers and have native driver support.

I just built a pfsense router with a Quad port GbE SFP Silicom PE2G4SFPi80L adapter was $170

They make 1,2,4 and 6 port cards I believe. Anything with Intel controller 82580EB will work. However think all there cards are 4x and 8x PCIe

hec

Today i would use the Intel x540 or Intel x710.

With the SFP cards you can use CR cables for short range or real fibre cables.
2 Ports with LAGG and then some vlans in the LAGG.

Today i work with 2x 4 port intel GB nics but they will be replaced soon.

But i don't know if the x710 is supported by pfSense. Maybe i can test this card soon.